Taxes and hiking-Table Rock

Finally finished my taxes  (in time for the due date!) What a chore!  In the meantime the weather has warmed up and we have been getting lots of rain, so the garden is booming.  Or I should say the garden weeds are booming.  The tomatoes are ready to be transplanted in, but first I have to clear out a space for them.  Too much to do.
On the bright side we went hiking last Sunday.  It was the last day of Pam's spring break, and we were determined to get in a hike.  We planned to go to Mt. Diablo, but as we drove down 80 we saw that the whole delta appeared socked in with fog.  It had been bright and sunny at home.  So we veered off on Hwy 12 and headed up to Robert Luis Stevenson State Park.  Pam had never been to Table Rock, and we thought she would really enjoy it.  Are we flexible or what?
Had a great time.  I had forgotten how tough that hike is.  It's pretty short, at only about 5 miles, but the trail is kind of steep and rocky underfoot.  We really appreciated our hiking poles.  April is a good time to hike that trail, as there are lots of wildflowers.  We wanted to hike on to the Pallisades, but got too late of a start and were too slow at hiking.

The rock rearrangement is one of the charming things about this trail.

Frittilaria purdyi.  We almost missed these little guys, they were so tiny and inconspicuous.

The trail map.

Senior recital and hiking

Have been seriously neglecting this blog.  Have been seeing lots of performances.  Went to see Sac Opera perform Rigoletto Feb 24.  Frances and Doug were nonsinging extras, which was very amusing.  The performance was excellent.  Then we went to see the View from Dresden at the Cathedral, which was also excellent.  Frances's senior recital was March 2 and it went very well.  This time we prepared most of the food, but she made 3 kinds of mini cupcakes.  Everything turned out really well.

Her Uncle John, and family friends Dale, Leslie, and Pam also came, as well as many of her and Doug's friends and classmates.  We went out to eat at Leatherby's afterwards.  Twenty four hours later and I am sick as a dog for another 24 hours.  Ugh!

Last Friday we went hiking in the Auburn SRA.  The day turned out to be beautiful, much warmer and sunnier than we were expecting.  The hike was really nice. Not many flowers yet. Parked at the headquarters and crossed the highway to the trailhead.  Took parts of the Western States Trail and part of the loop that goes to Cool. Eight miles and 2300 feet of elevation gain. Had dinner at Mexican restaurant in Auburn and got takeout cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory for dessert.  Of course I was sore the next day, but it rained all day, so was able to forego my bike ride without feeling guilty. 

This old railroad bridge is 100 years old and very scenic

We were very amused by the warnings for steep trails. Ted looks like a giant in this photo!

Trail started at gate opposite the headquarters, when down and joined the Western States Trail, crossed the "no hands" bridge, continued south towards Cool until intersecting the Olmstead Loop Trail, which we took until the Pointed Rocks trail which according to sign posts (not the map) joined the Training Hill trail, and back to the Western States Trail (aka Wendell T. Robie trail).

Return to Mt Diablo and Valentine's Day

My Valentine's Day chocolate is just a distant memory but my flowers bloom on.  Really enjoying these. Ted bought 3 bunches for $12,  I think our Raley's has great flowers.

Took Friday off and went hiking at Mt Diablo with Pam.  The Back Trail comes out about 30 feet from the Eagle Peak Trail on the Meridian Fire Road so it was deja vu all over again (Eagle Peak  hike).  Didn't see a whole lot of special interest on this hike, but the day was beautiful and we had a fine time.   Feeling rather sore today so skipped the bike ride.

Up along the Meridian fire road the manzanita were in full bloom

The Back Trail runs along the ridge in front of Eagle Peak.

 

First post of 2012-Cold Canyon New Years Day Hike

Ok so this hike was actually Jan 2, but we were all busy recovering from our late night on New Year's Eve, plus our hiking group had various conflicts for New Years Day, so Monday it was.  Pam, Ted, and I met up with Frances and Doug at the trailhead at about 11AM.  Took us 35 min to get there, F took an hour.

This trail is very steep in sections.

This years hiking group, I'm behind the camera

Weather was perfect, not too warm.

The views never get old.

Due to our recent Mt. Diablo climb we were in pretty good shape, and nobody was sore the next day.  We heard some wrentits and Ted saw and heard a California Thrasher.  Unfortunately, Pam and I missed that.
Previous New Years Day hikes at Cold Canyon 2010, 2011

Update in response to comment

Vertical exaggeration turned to 2x.

I guess our legs can detect changes in elevation that are too small to see in the charts!

Last Post of 2011

Take Eagle Peak Trail first. Come back on Mitchell Canyon Trail, unless you enjoy steep downhill.

Didn't have time to post this earlier what with all the New Years Eve prep.  Had a great Holiday Season.  Lots of fun and games.  Today just hanging out, picking up the Christmas mess, watching football, recovering from the rich food of the past week.
F wanted to take a hike on her birthday, and told us to pick the hike. Chose the Eagle Peak-Mitchell Canyon Trail on Mt. Diablo.  Even though it's close we have almost never gone hiking there (well, a couple of short walks on trails at the peak).  One of the web sites we saw said it was a 5 mile hike and another said 8 miles.  Turns out the 8 miles was correct!

As soon as we reached Eagle Peak a clould blew in.

This was quite a hike!  Even in the dead of winter it was very fun, required lots of exertion, we went through lots of different vegetation, and saw lots of very fat birds.  The food must be plentiful at Mt. Diablo. Took an hour to get to the trail head in no traffic.  Finished off the day with yummy Indian food.  Every one of us was sore the next day!  However we are looking forward to more hair of the dog and our Cold Canyon hike on Jan 2.

The trail track from the
GPS viewed in Google Earth

Crooked Lakes Trail hike to Penner Lake

Snow level is obvious from the moss.

Island Lake

Penner Lake

We took this hike on August 18.  Left home at 8.45 am.
The weather was perfect and the flowers, thanks to our very late spring, were about peak.  We picked up F and D in Sacramento, but poor F turned out to have some awful respiratory bug, and so did not feel up to hiking.  We left them sitting beside Feeley Lake and proceeded post haste to our destination which was Penner Lake. To get back sooner, we truncated our planned loop hike into an out and back.  We left them the map but if we had been smart we would have taken a photo of it for reference, because we got confused at several points and it would have been helpful to have the map.  Now why didn't we think of that before we were halfway along the trail??
The hike only has about 500 feet of elevation gain over the 3 mile plus distance from trailhead to Penner Lake, so the hike was quite easy.  The trail is remarkably pretty, with one lake after another popping into view.  We ate lunch on a large smooth granite outcrop overlooking the edge of Island Lake, where we were entertained by the antics of an osprey.
The water at Penner Lake was just perfect for a quick dip: pretty cool but not frigid.
Dinner at Gatsby's in Sac. $60 for 3 burger plates and 3 milkshakes (includes tax and tip).  A bit (!!!) on the pricey side but good. Home at 10 pm.

Wendall T. Robie Trail - Memorial Day Weekend Hike

We went with Pam and Jesse to see Pam's neice (Mercyhurst) in the women's crew races at Lake Natomas on Sunday morning. Our plan was to hike afterwards. Admittance to watch the race was $15 per head, so Ted and I skipped that and walked across the bridge to the other side of the river.
I had found the Wendall T. Robie trail by looking about on the internet, and it seemed like a good possibility as it was close to Sacramento. As last year, Frances decided at the last possible moment that she would like to join us for the hike, so we had to backtrack to pick her up. Then we stopped at the freeway-close Raley's in Loomis to buy her lunch provisions, since her larder was bare of hike food.
Once we left the freeway we were on a windy 2 lane road, and then on a windy one lane paved road (no stripe but room for two cars to pass) and then on a windy one lane dirt road ( I was glad we didn't meet any cars.) I hadn't printed directions to the trailhead so we were relying on memory (never wise). We stopped by a gate to reconnoiter and luckily Pam noticed a trail sign, which was not obvious at all. It started to pour just then, so we ate our lunches sitting in the car and waiting for the rain to stop.
Were putting on our boots when two jeeps and a pickup came down the road. That was the only other folks we saw the entire day (nobody else was on the trail, this in the middle of Memorial Day weekend!).
The trail was very pretty; the white fairy lanterns were out in force, as was the Heuchera and the ticks!  The trail is mostly level, and there are a few places where you can catch a glimpse of the river far below.

Checking for ticks at the trailhead at the end of the hike. Note trail start on right side of road.

We started up the trail at 1.50 pm, and so finally turned around about 4.30. We never made it to Canyon Creek. Looking at the topo map, it was probably still miles away. The trip back on the trail was uneventful except there were a lot more ticks, since it had warmed up and the sun was out. Doug joined us for dinner (Sushi Hook) and dessert (Cheesecake Factory). Curiously, Pam ran into her niece at Cheesecake Factory. Got home about 10.45 pm

2011 New Years Day Hike

Postponed till the 3rd due to rain. Got to parking lot 11.30, trailhead 11.45. Finished hike about 4.30. The creek was almost too high to cross, but with a lot of teamwork got ourselves across as well as the party behind us. Eight inches rain in Dec, mostly after Christmas plus 1.1 since Jan 1. A great hike enjoyed by all!